Microsoft has gone ahead and sued Motorola for violating 9 of its patents. The Motorola products in question are Android smartphones and its clear that Android isn’t going smooth. HTC has already licensed Microsoft’s patents and Apple has also sued HTC for patents relating to Android products. Here is what Microsoft says:
“Microsoft filed an action today in the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones. The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.
We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones.”
While Google hasn’t been targeted directly, its clear that Android has its own loopholes. In comparison Apple though has faced lawsuits from Nokia, they seem to have a lot of fire power in defense. For now, industry fighting over Android certainly benefits iOS (and the upcoming Windows Phone 7).